Glad to be Here

There is an old joke that many comedians use to start their routine. They step in front of the mic and say, “I’m glad to be here, everyone’s got to be some where.”

It’s true, everyone’s got to be somewhere. I find people often longing for the way things used to be—when churches were full and everything was simple. I even bore my kids with stories of what I could buy with a mere quarter—and I could get a bag a candy with the 2 cents I got back from the 12 cent bottle of pop. I just noticed that the symbol for “cent” is missing from my keyboard. When did that happen?

But you know, I don’t for a minute think that God is calling us to live in the past. Even those moments in scripture that list God’s many past accomplishments for the people are intended to reinforce the fact that God continues to love us in the present.

I for one do not want to go back there, to go back anywhere. That’s where God was… I want to be where God is and God is in the present. I am glad to be here.

Here, in the present, there are challenges, hardship and woes; but there are also success, celebrations and joy.

Everybody’s got to be some where and here is the only place we’ve got. Here is where we find God, where we encounter the divine, where we can truly let the Christ rule in our lives, rule with an ever present and transforming love.